


Fall Into Your Gravity

by benjaminrussell



Series: Lone Star Dates [5]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: F/M, Happy Ending, Missing Persons, date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:41:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29941875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benjaminrussell/pseuds/benjaminrussell
Summary: When Sarah had mentioned the small charity music festival happening just outside of the city, Paul had thought it sounded like a fun idea.Now he still thought it was a fun idea, but he was also nervous. Not quite as nervous as before their first date, but still. Especially after how things with Josie ended, putting himself out there again had been nerve-wracking.Paul goes on a date but things don't go entirely according to plan and he has to use his training to save a child.
Relationships: Paul Strickland/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Lone Star Dates [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2143815
Comments: 4
Kudos: 27





	Fall Into Your Gravity

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Heartbeats by Dossey, an Austin based artist. I was listening to the Listen Local: Austin playlist on Spotify while writing a bunch of this, so pretend those artists are the ones performing if you like. :P
> 
> Thanks to [myemergence](https://archiveofourown.org/users/myemergence/pseuds/myemergence) for beta reading, and [Jecari](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jecari/pseuds/jecari) for the banner!
> 
> Kudos if you catch the Wynonna Earp reference!

Paul met Sarah Ortega for their second date, just outside the festival entrance. She was wearing skinny jeans, a Black Sabbath t-shirt, and a leather jacket, and had her brown curly hair loose. He’d opted for his newest checked shirt, his second nicest pair of jeans (in deference to the outdoor setting), and his trusty bomber jacket that she’d complimented on their first date.

Their first date had been a simple ‘drinks and playing pool at the bar’ affair, but it had gone well enough that they’d decided to do something a bit different this time, and when Sarah had mentioned the small charity music festival happening just outside of the city, Paul had thought it sounded like a fun idea.

Now he still thought it was a fun idea, but he was also nervous. Not quite as nervous as before their first date, but still. Especially after how things with Josie ended, putting himself out there again had been nerve-wracking. He and Sarah had met through a dating app, so he’d known from the beginning that she was okay with him being trans, which admittedly made it a little easier. In fact, them both having pride flag emojis in their bios had been one of the first things they’d messaged about. Sarah was bi, and they’d ended up having a serious discussion about how their respective identities were sometimes made to feel unwelcome in the LGBTQ community.

“Hey! Nice to see you again.” Paul smiled at Sarah as he reached her, leaning in for a quick hug.

“You too! I’m really glad we could make this work; the festival should be great.” She returned his smile, referencing the initial discussion when he wasn’t sure whether he’d be working or not.

“Shall we?” Paul gestured towards the entrance with the hand not holding the picnic blanket he’d brought with him.

“Yeah. I was thinking we could look around the food trucks first, and then pick a spot once we’ve got our food?” She suggested as they headed inside, showing their tickets as they passed through the entrance.

“Sounds like a plan,” He agreed, following Sarah’s lead.

They wound their way towards the loose ring of trucks and were presented with lots of local businesses selling a wide variety of food and drink, all the smells of cooking food mingling together to create one enticing scent.

“Looks like we’re spoilt for choice!” Paul exclaimed, surveying the different options he could see. “Shall we start there and work our way around?”

Sarah nodded and took his hand, heading in the direction he’d suggested. They walked a few yards away from the stalls, near enough to read the menus but not so close that they’d get in the way of people who were actually buying things. The first truck they passed was selling bao buns with a variety of fillings, the second did burgers (both meat and vegetarian), and the third was from a local brewery. 

“Ooh, this is where my friend works,” Sarah said, beelining for the stall. “I wonder if she’s here today.”

“We better get drinks from here then.” Paul grinned at her before glancing over the menu.

Sarah laughed, a light airy thing. “If you don’t mind?”

“Not at all. I like the sound of Mirage.” 

“Hey Dave, is Marisa here?” She asked the guy in the truck who wasn’t currently serving customers, giving him a little wave.

“Howdy Sarah,” Dave replied, smiling warmly at them. “Not at the moment, but she’s coming along a bit later. Can I help y’all in the meantime?”

“A pint of Mirage for me, please.” Paul told him, before looking at Sarah. “How about you?”

“Mmm…” Sarah read the menu for a few moments before deciding. “Twilight Haze, please.”

“Good choices!” Dave grinned. “Coming right up. That’ll be twelve dollars in total.”

Paul pulled out his phone, unlocking it as he reached for the card reader, whilst telling Sarah, “My treat.”

Beers in hand, they continued wandering around the trucks, pointing out places to each other that looked like possible options and sipping their drinks. Eventually they reached the start again, so Paul turned to Sarah.

“What’s your top three?”

“Hmm.” Sarah thought for a moment and then pointed towards the specific trucks as she answered. “Pho, Greek, Mexican. How about yours?”

Paul glanced around the area to remind himself of everything he’d spotted. “Yeah, that Greek place is in my top three too. Also, poutine and Chicago style pizza, even if I’m not convinced anyone here will be able to do it justice.”

“Greek it is then.” Sarah grinned, rolling her eyes good naturedly at the jab about the pizza.

They headed back to the food truck serving gyros and souvlaki, taking a minute to properly read the menu before joining the small queue to order their food. They had to wait a little while, but that was a small price to pay for the food being prepared in front of them. Once they had their gyros and had also stopped by the stall selling a wide selection of brownies, they finally headed into the festival proper to find a place to set up their little picnic. 

There was a crowd of people squashed up in front of the stage, dancing or bopping along to the music, but Paul and Sarah made their way towards the section further back where others had also set out picnic blankets or camping chairs. They found an empty spot between another couple and a family and spread out Paul’s picnic blanket. Well, technically it was Mateo’s blanket that Paul was borrowing, but close enough. They settled on the blanket, set their plastic glasses carefully on the grass next to them, and then dug into their food, choosing to enjoy it while it was hot and talk more afterwards.

“Okay, yeah, that was definitely the right choice,” Paul commented with a contented sigh when he was done.

“Yeah, I agree.” Sarah collected their garbage and stacked it before setting it off to one side for them to dispose of later.

“So, you clearly have opinions on pizza,” She commented with a small grin. “Is that just because you’re from Chicago, or because you like to cook?”

“Well, the pizza thing is because I’m from Chicago, but I do like to cook as well.” Paul shifted a little closer now that they were done eating, and put his hand on the blanket in between them, palm up so she could take it if she wanted to. “I often cook at work actually, and I’m telling you, the amount of different dietary requirements there definitely makes it a challenge sometimes!”

Sarah put her hand in Paul’s and twined their fingers together, giving Paul a warm feeling in his stomach and making a small, pleased smile appear on his face.

“What happens if you get a call while you’re cooking?” She asked curiously.

“Abandon it and hope it’s salvageable.” Paul shrugged, as if to say, ‘what can you do?’. “It’s happened more than once and I’m sure it’ll happen again.”

“Ahh, one of the unavoidable downsides of the job, I guess. Maybe you can cook for me at some point.” Sarah looked at him a little shyly from under her lashes, as if she were gauging his reaction.

Paul let a warm smile spread across his face. “I’d like that. I can’t promise it’ll be as good as these gyros, but I like to think I’m a fairly good cook.”

“I promise I won’t set a fire and make you abandon your cooking partway through.” The corner of her mouth quirked up, before turning into a full-on grin when Paul laughed.

“Deal.”

Like on their first date (once they’d got past the initial awkwardness), the conversation flowed easily. And in between topics, they were able to sit in companionable silence just listening to the acts on stage. They agreed on most of the important things but disagreed on enough of the unimportant things to keep it interesting. Sarah was witty and clever and beautiful, and she seemed to like him quite a bit too. Paul was cautiously optimistic about their chances of making a relationship work, but he tried not to think about it too much, knowing it was better to enjoy the moment and just see where things took them at this early stage.

A while later, Paul finished off the last of his beer and glanced over at Sarah to see that she’d finished hers too.

“Want another?” He asked, gesturing with his empty cup.

“Yes, please.” Sarah smiled. “But a different beer this time.”

“Any preference?” Paul took her empty cup, stacked it with his, and picked up their other rubbish too.

“Surprise me.” 

“Alright then. One mystery beer coming up.” He shot her a grin before getting to his feet. “I’ll be back shortly.”

Firstly, he went to find a bin to dump the garbage, and then returned to the brewery truck, deciding to buy from Sarah’s friend’s place again as the first beer had been very palatable. He was just thinking about ordering two different ones, figuring he’d let Sarah choose which one she wanted and have the other himself, when he caught the conversation of a couple nearby.

“I only turned around for a minute; she couldn’t have gotten far!” The woman exclaimed, sounding stressed.

“We’ll find her. She’s probably just excited and will come back as soon as she realises that we’re not behind her.” The man sounded like he was worried too but trying to reassure the woman.

Forgetting the beer for the moment, Paul turned around and quickly spotted the couple. 

“Excuse me, I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. Your kid’s gone missing?” He closed the small distance between them, unable to not get involved if a child might be in danger.

“I’m an off-duty firefighter,” He added upon seeing their hesitation.

“Yeah, our daughter, Amara.” The dad said, Paul’s job apparently enough of a reassurance to allow him to accept Paul’s help. “She was there one moment and then she was gone.”

“Okay. I’ll help you look for her. I’m Paul, by the way.”

“Thank you. I’m Graham and this is my wife, Danya.”

“You got a photo of your daughter?” Paul asked, knowing it would be much easier to find the missing girl if he knew what she looked like.

“Yeah, here.” Danya pulled out her phone and showed Paul her lock screen, which was a photo of the two of them with a young girl of eight or so.

“Where were you when you last saw her?”

“Just over there,” Graham replied, pointing at a food truck a couple of spaces down.

“Okay. Has she mentioned wanting to see or go somewhere while you’ve been here?” Paul’s mind was already cataloguing potential places a child might have run off to, aware that the longer they stood there talking, the further away Amara could get, but knowing that looking logically was better than blindly searching.

Graham and Danya looked at each other, wordlessly communicating for a moment, before Danya said, “She was wanting one of those big helium balloons earlier, but we told her she couldn’t have one until the end of the day because she’d get bored of holding it before the hour was out.”

“Got it. Okay, I suggest one of you stays in this area in case she comes back, while the other works your way in that direction. I’ll head over to the other side and do the same. Meet back here, and hopefully one of us will have found Amara.” Paul gave them a reassuring smile.

It was important for the parents not to panic, even if Paul knew well the trouble a kid alone could get into. They both nodded, and then Graham headed off in the direction Paul had pointed while Danya started looking around the food truck area, both calling out for their daughter. Paul headed towards the crowds around the stage, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of the girl or a balloon seller.

“Amara!” He called, even if he didn’t expect a response seeing as the girl didn’t know him.

He made his way through the crowd, slowly heading towards the stage, until he spotted a big bunch of balloons bobbing along in the distance. He bent his path to head that way in case Amara had decided she wanted a balloon regardless of what her parents had said, still keeping an eye out on the way. Arriving near the balloon seller, he scanned the area for any sign of the kid but came up empty, so turned slowly on the spot, wondering where else she might have gone.

It was then that he spotted the minor commotion near the edge of the stage. There were several people exclaiming and pointing up at the rigging, and Paul had a sudden sinking feeling he might know where the kid had gotten to. He hurried towards the commotion, peering up to see if he could spot what the people were looking at. It took him until he got closer, but then he could just about make out the small figure perched on one of the metal supports above the edge of the stage. A figure that looked an awful lot like the girl he was looking for. 

After a split-second decision, he turned towards where he’d directed Graham to look, thankfully managing to spot the man without too much trouble. He flagged him down, and waited until he was in earshot before saying, “I think I’ve found her.”

“Oh, thank god,” Graham exclaimed as he reached Paul. “Where is she?”

“That’s the bad news,” Paul warned, before pointing up at the rigging. “I think she’s managed to climb up there.”

He followed Graham to the edge of the stage, attention back on Amara now that he’d found her dad.

“How on earth did she even get up there?” Graham asked in disbelief, staring up at his daughter for a moment before shouting her name. “Amara!”

Amara finally looked down at the sound of her dad’s voice, waving and maybe looking a little sheepish. “Hi dad!”

“Sweetie, please come down now,” Graham called, doing a good job of staying calm even though Paul was sure the man must be terrified for his kid.

“But I can see everything up here!” Amara complained, looking like she was having the time of her life and clearly not understanding why her dad was spoiling her fun.

“It’s not safe!” 

“Fineeeeee.” The drawn-out syllable was audible even at ground level, and the sound was such a universal child thing that it sent Paul right back to looking after his younger cousins.

Amara was sitting with her legs dangling, but after her reluctant agreement she climbed back up, so she was kneeling on the rigging. Paul’s heart was in his mouth at the sight, and he could only imagine it would be much worse for the man next to him. Then almost as if it were happening in slow motion, Amara’s leg slipped, and she began to overbalance. Paul vaulted onto the stage and threw himself forward, just as Amara cried out and fell from the rigging. There was a heart-stopping moment where the only sound was Graham’s anguished shout, and then she landed heavily in Paul’s arms, sending him staggering with the momentum of her fall.

The band had finally noticed what was going on and came to a stop, which in turn had drawn the attention of the crowd, just in time for those nearby to see Paul catch the falling girl. There was a beat of silence, and then clapping and cheering erupted, giving Paul an unexpected ovation, and making him realise how many people were watching him. Was this what it felt like to be Marjan?

“Amara!” Graham cried, climbing onto the stage with less grace than Paul had managed.

Paul carefully lowered the girl to the ground, looking for any obvious signs of injury. “Are you hurt?”

Amara looked at him for a moment, and then burst into tears. Paul didn’t take it personally, knowing the shock of falling would have caught up with her now she was safely on the ground. Instead, he just sat back on his heels and let her dad comfort her. She didn’t seem to have any serious injuries from what he could tell, and any minor scrapes or bruises could wait for a minute. 

After a few minutes, her crying subsided until it was just quiet sniffing, and then Graham pulled away just enough so he could look her in the face but still left one arm wrapped around her. “Do you think you can answer this man’s question now? His name is Paul and he’s a firefighter.”

She gave a small nod and looked up at Paul shyly, speaking in a small voice, “My knee hurts. This one. I hit it when I fell.”

“Do you mind if I check it out?” Paul asked, glancing between Amara and her dad.

“Okay,” Amara said, biting her lip. 

Graham nodded over his daughter’s head, so Paul reached out and hovered his hands over her leg. “I’m going to touch it gently, okay? Just so I can feel if there’s any swelling.”

He waited for Amara to nod, and then carefully felt her knee and the surrounding area through her jeans, breathing out a sigh of relief when he felt nothing other than maybe a little mild swelling.

“I think you’re good,” He told her with a smile.

At that moment, a woman with a high vis identifying her as the event medic hurried up to them. “Is anyone hurt?”

“Amara here banged her knee as she fell, but from what I can tell it’s just bruised,” Paul told her, before adding in way of explanation, “I’m a firefighter.”

The woman nodded in acknowledgment, before turning her attention to Graham. “Are you dad?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you come with me and carry your daughter to the medical tent? Then I can check her knee out properly and get some ice on it.” 

Paul moved back and got to his feet, giving them room. 

Graham scooped Amara up in his arms and stood also, shooting Paul a grateful smile. “Thank you so much. We owe you, seriously.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just doing my job.” Paul gave him an easy smile in return.

He watched as the medic led Graham away, and then glanced around to see the band still watching. He gave them a quick thumbs up, before hopping off the stage and starting back towards the food and drink area. 

Once he was back to being anonymous in the crowds, he sighed. He’d never regret helping a child, but it had been a good half hour since he’d left to get drinks, so Sarah probably thought he’d bailed on her. He wouldn’t be surprised if she’d gotten fed up and left already, not that he could blame her. In hindsight, he could have sent her a quick text to let her know what was happening, but at the time he’d been too focused on the missing child to think about it. He’d probably blown any chance for a third date, which was a shame because it had been going so well up until now. 

Just in case, he returned to the brewery truck and grabbed a couple more pints of beer, before finally making his way back to where he’d left Sarah. He spotted Mateo’s blanket, and was disappointed but unsurprised to see it empty.

Damn. Yet another first date in his future.

But then he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and looking around he saw Sarah waving at him. Impossibly, she even had a smile on her face.

“Paul, over here!” She called out, waving him over to where she was sitting with another couple.

“I’m so sorry it took me so long, there was a missing kid,” Paul hurriedly apologised as he reached them.

“The one who fell off the stage? Yeah, we heard! I’m so glad someone was able to catch her!” Sarah exclaimed. “Did you see it happen?”

“You could say that.” Paul laughed as he passed her the drinks, before reaching back to pull Mateo’s blanket over next to the couple’s.

“Pick whichever you want, and I’ll have the other,” He told her as he sat down, getting comfortable before returning to the subject of Amara. “I was the one who caught her.”

“What, no way!” The guy on the other side of Sarah exclaimed.

“Yeah, I overheard her parents when I went for beer, so I offered to help them look for her,” Paul explained.

“Paul’s a firefighter,” Sarah butted in. “Helping people is his thing.”

Paul rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, oddly pleased by her assertion, and gave a little smile. “We eventually managed to track her down, but she was up in the rigging above the stage and when she went to climb down, she slipped and fell. Thankfully, I managed to get there just in time to catch her. I checked her over, but there didn’t look like anything wrong other than a bit of bruising.”

“Dude, that’s badass!” The other guy said, leaning around his boyfriend to hold out his fist.

The corner of Paul’s mouth quirked up and he gave the guy a fist bump. “Thanks. But just doing my job.”

“Take the compliment!” Sarah stuck her tongue out at him and nudged his side.

Paul put his hands up in mock defence and laughed. “Okay, okay!”

“This is Jeremy and Robin by the way. I know Jeremy through work.” Sarah gestured at them as she said their names.

“Hey, nice to meet you both.” Paul smiled and waved.

“You too!” Jeremy grinned.

They stayed chatting with Robin and Jeremy for a while, before retreating to their own space for the rest of the festival. The two of them were very friendly, but it was meant to be a date, not a double date after all. Paul apologised for taking so long again once they were alone, but Sarah reassured him that she honestly didn’t mind. He’d been rescuing a kid, after all.

“I had a great time today,” Sarah said as they were leaving the festival, hand in hand. “And I’d love a third date if you’re onboard.”

“Definitely!” Paul’s face lit up at the suggestion. “You could come over to mine and I’ll cook that dinner, if you want?”

“Sounds like a plan!” Sarah grinned back, coming to a halt as they reached the point where they needed to go their separate ways.

“Awesome. I’ll message you tomorrow to arrange it.” Paul stepped closer, broadcasting his intent before asking softly, “Can I kiss you?”

Sarah closed the remaining distance between them and pressed her lips to his, kissing him softly.

It was a perfect end to an eventful date, and Paul couldn’t wait for their next one.


End file.
